Why NFL Fined Chiefs Players After Week 12

The 2025 NFL season has gone about as badly as any fan of the Kansas City Chiefs could have anticipated. From seven consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances and three consecutive trips to the Super Bowl, the team is in danger of outright missing the playoffs.

Standing at 6-6 after a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the season has fallen by the wayside for the once prolific dynasty. A major thread running through their season has been untimely penalties and sloppy play, which has also permeated their victories.

Kansas City Chiefs Going From Bad to Worse

Before the brutal loss to the Cowboys, it seemed like things would finally stabilize for Kansas City after they were able to beat the most vaunted offense in the league, the Indianapolis Colts.

Even as they squeaked out a 23-20 victory in overtime, seven penalties worth 57 yards, one of which directly wiped a touchdown off the board, were a major concern for the players on the roster.

Now, the true extent of the cost of those penalties is shining through for two players in particular, Trent McDuffie and Kingsley Suamataia. The former made his mistake in the first quarter itself, but fortunately, it was not flagged.

Facing a third-and-15, Daniel Jones got the ball to Tyler Warren, who tried to push it beyond the sticks. Unfortunately, he was met by McDuffie near the sideline. He was ruled three yards short, even as the Colts’ sideline asked for a flag on a face mask hit.

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In real time, no call was made. But the league has stepped in retroactively to assess a penalty to the star cornerback. As James Boyd of The Athletic reported, “#Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie was fined $11,593 for this facemask on #Colts TE Tyler Warren in the 1Q of Indy’s Week 12 loss to KC.”

#Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie was fined $11,593 for this facemask on #Colts TE Tyler Warren in the 1Q of Indy’s Week 12 loss to KC.

McDuffie was not penalized during the game, which would have given the Colts a first down. You can see the Indy coaching staff asking for the flag. pic.twitter.com/LlMkBSfT7O

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) November 29, 2025

In the case of Suamataia, the fine was assessed for a blindside block on Charvarius Ward, as he tried to give extra leverage to Brashard Smith, who was trying to add more yards after catch in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, he was charged $8,108 for the penalty, as the woes for the locker room continued. On the season, penalties have been a major detractor for the entire operation that the team is trying to conduct.

Even though they scraped by with a win against Indianapolis, they were unable to overcome their mistakes against Dallas. Against them, a major source of frustration from the fan base was the sloppy play that resulted in 10 penalties worth 119 yards.

It cost them the game, and ultimately, might end up deciding their season as a whole.